Who was Luigi Lo Cascio before starting directing films?
I have been an actor (and I kept on being an actor also during the shooting), and I worked for both cinema and theatre since 1990. I also wrote three plays, and I directed one of them.
Why did you choose this story for your debut film?
The story took shape little by little. First just an image, then a more concrete idea, then a series of intertwined scenes. It often happens to have an idea and think "Well, it would be nice to get a film out of it". Then this same idea shows its limits and you put it aside. Instead, in this case my first idea has kept on developing, and this forced me to take care of it and define it to myself. Once it reached a clearer form, I thought it might have been interesting to show the development of that distant intuition to the others.
How was working for the first time on the feature lenght film?
I got fond of it, and it was funny too, especially because you realise there is a gap between the screenplay and the shooting, and between the shooting and the editing. It is exciting when you must be ready to face the constant attacks of the unforeseeable.
Do you have future project as a film director?
Directing a film is for me something that only comes after the writing phase. Only if I will have another idea able to take the shape of a screenplay, then I will do my best to make it into a film.
Which directors, especially among those you already worked with, had an influence on your debut film?
I have been lucky in my career, since I worked with exceptionally talented directors so far. So I owe everything I know about directing to them. Other directors has inspired me as well, but I could name so many of them – as so different from one another – that I might not be able to explicitly and consciously point out their names.
How much does your interest in philosophy had an influence on the production of this story?
I hope it influenced my film fairly, so to express the urgency of certain issues by means of my work.
30.08 — 09.09